Comment by Someone
16 days ago
> when half the country can't access their files anymore and Apple points to this decision as the reason.
Governments are extremely powerful. They may issue a gag order (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gag_order) that makes it illegal for Apple to do that.
Even in that case, Apple could withdraw from the market.
If push comes to shove and apple actually called their bluff and withdrew completely from the UK market, I'd bet that that government would become so unpopular that they would not be elected again for quite some time.
Gag orders affect information, not whether they continue to provide a service or not.
I expect everyone would read between the lines if Apple simply offered "no comment".